Energy is plentiful in winds, sunlight, waves and tidal changes. However, these natural sources of energy vary erratically with seasons and weather conditions. Therefore, a direct conversion of the energy into power of useful form is impractical, because the requirement for storage and modulation makes the conversion inefficient and costly. By means of the hydro-turbine, this invention introduces an uncomplicated and practical way to convert the energy in erratic natural sources into power of useful steady form. The power of steady form can be used to generate electricity or activate machinery, such as the drill of an oilrig or the conveyor belt that moves a production line in a factory.
The building of dams for electricity requires enormous undertakings in labor and cost, and causes ecological hazards, such as floods, destruction of wild life habitats and cultural lands, and so on. The conversion of power from fuel combustion generates unacceptable pollution. The conversion of nuclear power is unacceptable, not only because construction and maintenance costs are enormous, but also because the technologies in managing radioactive wastes and in preventing a disastrous incident of core melt down have been uncertain and, therefore, unreliable. Conventional conversion of winds directly into electricity, by means of wind-turbines, is impractical because it is complicated with the problems of storage and modulation to transform the irregularly generated currents, due to erratic wind speeds, into currents of useful form. Furthermore, a large area of suitable wind condition, such as one on the outskirts of Palm Desert, Calif., is needed for the installations of several hundreds of wind turbines to provide only limited supply of electricity. The conversion of energy from sunlight, waves and tidal changes is also complicated with the problems of storage and modulation, because, like the winds, these natural sources of energy vary erratically.
To power the water pumps, input energy is derived from erratic natural sources, such as winds, sunlight, waves, tidal changes, etc. The water pumps move water upward, from a receiving reservoir through a back-up reservoir into a delivering reservoir. The surface of water in the delivering reservoir is maintained at a constant functioning level. From the delivering reservoir, the downward water flow rotates a hydro-turbine. Due to the constant functioning level of water in the delivering reservoir, energy output, from the hydro turbine, is in a steady state. The output energy is used to power machinery such as an electric generator, an oil drill or a conveyor belt.